`

30 years of volunteering: a
longitudinal study of British
volunteering behaviour between
1981 and 2012
Voluntary Sector and Volunteering
Research Conference 2014

Dr Rose Lindsey, Third Sector Research Centre, University of
Southampton
Dr Elizabeth Metcalfe, Third Sector Research Centre, University of
Southampton

INTRODUCTION
Existing analyses of patterns of volunteering have tended to be based on annual cross-
sectional surveys making it difficult to establish an understanding of longitudinal
trajectories of volunteering. Cross-sectional work undertaken by European and US
scholars, Hustinx (2001), Hustinx and Lammertyn (2003), and Macduff (2005)
suggests a growing trend towards short-term and one-off voluntary acts associated
with reflexive and individualised approaches to voluntarism. Macduff, who is
responsible for coining the phrase episodic volunteer, cites Webers work on the
2001 US Independent Sector Survey
i
to evidence this trend. Throughout UK and US
literature there are references to the term episodic volunteer and the increase in this
type of volunteering. However, there is a lack of consistency in how this term is used,
what is meant by it, and how it relates to individual patterns of volunteering across the
life-course.
The US scholars, Musick and Wilson (2008, pp. 221-223), note the research
communitys dependency on cross-sectional analyses of volunteering, and argue that
what is missing are longitudinal and/or retrospective understandings of patterns of
volunteering across individual volunteering life-courses. Little longitudinal and/or life-
course work on individual patterns of volunteering has been undertaken in the UK.
The exceptions are Geyne-Rajme and Smiths (2011) paper and qualitative studies by
Sherratt (1983) and Brodie et al (2011). Geyne-Rajme and Smiths paper draws on
the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) (1996-2008) to discuss longitudinal
transitions in volunteering, from volunteering to not volunteering and vice versa (pp
6-7). Those people that transition from one state to another are conceptualised as
movers and those that never transition as stayers. Within the stayers are a group
of individuals who either continuously volunteer or continuously do not volunteer
through the 1996-2008 timeframe. Geyne-Rajme and Smiths use of the longitudinal
BHPS/US dataset provides insights into the potential fluidity of volunteering patterns
across time.
The qualitative study, Pathways through Participation (Brodie et al, 2011) undertook
single interviews with its participants, who were asked to reflect on their volunteering
histories. The project found that whilst some individuals participation may be short-
term across the whole of their life, or across portions of their life, the process of
volunteering for many is dynamic, consisting of:
...ebbs and flows, starts and stops, a mix of one-offs, short-and long-term
commitment, and experiences that ranged from the undemanding to the
intense and all-consuming (p.28)
Whilst both Geyne-Rajme and Smith, and Brodie et al offer insights into the dynamics
of volunteering patterns over the life-course, their approaches and findings are limited
by their individual methodologies.
2
This paper addresses some of these research gaps, presenting findings from a mixed-
method study that used a life-course approach to investigate volunteering behaviour
and attitudes to voluntarism in the United Kingdom (UK) between 1981 and 2012
ii
.
The study yielded insights that question, corroborate and develop more recent cross-
sectional findings on volunteering patterns.
The first section of this paper discusses the data-sources and methods used in this
study. The second examines findings on the trajectories of volunteering taken by
individuals across their life-courses between 1981 and 2012. The final section
summarises our key findings.

METHODS

Data sources:
The study reused and combined longitudinal narrative and survey data on volunteering in the UK.
The datasets chosen the Mass Observation Project (MOP) and the BHPS/Understanding Society
(US) survey were not designed originally for researching volunteering, but contain questions on this
subject, and are a good temporal and thematic fit with each other.

MOP
Since 1981, a national panel of self-selected volunteer-writers has written for the MOP in response
to sets of themed questions or directives that are sent to them three times a year. This writing
provides rich insights into writers lives during the time in which they have written for MOP; whilst
retrospective writing provides insights into their individual life-courses. We identified 15 directives
with themes relevant to volunteering, voluntarism, and recession (see Figure 1). We then selected
38 serially responding (unrepresentative) writers whom we could follow through the 1981-2012
timeframe.

BHPS/US
The BHPS is a multi-purpose panel survey that collected information from the same 5,500
households (comprising 10,300 individuals aged 16+) between 1991 and 2008. It was replaced by the
US survey in 2009, and more than 80% of the BHPS panel continued to participate in US
iii
. The aim of
these surveys is to understand social and economic change in Britain.

Questions on volunteering behaviour were asked by the BHPS/US every other year starting from
1996. The absence of volunteering questions prior to 1996 means we were only able to look at the
time-frame 1996-2011, a 15 year period that represents half the portion of life-course being
analysed in the qualitative data.

The longitudinal sample taken consisted of individuals who were serial-responders to the question
on volunteering behaviour who reported volunteering at least once between 1996 and 2011.

3

QUALITATIVE METHODS:
We adopted a life-course approach when analysing the MOP data, constructing personal, work,
volunteering and attitudinal life-course histories for each writer. We also undertook thematic
analysis of transcribed MOP scripts, using computer assisted qualitative data analysis software
(MAXQDA 11) to explore our existing research questions, and to identify themes emerging from
our analysis of the scripts.








4
Qualitative and quantitative data fit:
FIGURE 1




Longitudinal data sources

Mass Observation narrative writing directives
British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) (1991
to 2008) and Understanding Society (US)
(2011)


Wave 1: 20 older, continuous writers
2267 people who volunteered at least once
between 1996 and 2011, aged between 15
and 85 in 1996


Wave 2: 18 younger or late starting writers


2012 Volunteering; the Big Society
2011 Volunteering behaviours
2010 Work; Belonging; MOA Survey

2009
2008 Econ. crisis, work & gov. responsibility Volunteering behaviours
2007
2006 Core British Values Volunteering behaviours
2005
2004
Being part of research

Volunteering behaviours

2003
2002 Volunteering behaviours
2001
2000 Volunteering behaviours
1999
1998 Volunteering behaviours
1997 Paid work
5
1996 Unpaid work/Volunteering Volunteering behaviours
1995 Where you live: community
1994
1993
1992
1991 BHPS begins
1990 Voluntary Orgs/Social
1989 Divisions
1988
1987
1986
1985
1984 Relatives, friends &neighbours
1983 Work
1982
1981 Unemployment

QUANTITATIVE METHODS:
The BHPS/US longitudinal sample was explored using sequence analysis (optimal
matching) to understand the evolution of individuals volunteering behaviours over
time. Sensitivity analysis of dissimilarity matrices was undertaken to check the
consistency of the optimal matching process. This analysis was repeated with groups
of individuals of different age ranges to explore whether the findings were consistent
over different age ranges. This was followed by hierarchical clustering to pull out
general patterns of how individuals moved in and out of volunteering over time.
Frequency tables and graphs were used to explore the demographics and
volunteering frequency and intensity for individuals that followed identified
volunteering trajectories
iv
.
DEFINITIONS
In order to impose some consistency on our findings it was necessary to agree a definition of
volunteering for the study. We opted for the description based on the 2005 Compact on
Volunteering (Home Office) that was adopted by national voluntary sector infrastructure
organisations such as NCVO/Volunteering England:
6

An activity that involves spending time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefit the
environment or someone (individuals or groups) other than, or in addition to, close relatives.

This fits roughly with the definition implied by questions on unpaid work and caring posed by the
BHPS between 1996 and 2008, which asked if the participant has taken part in unpaid voluntary
work and if s/he has provided some regular service or help for any sick, disabled or elderly person
not living with the participant.

In this paper, voluntary acts for a group or organisation are referred to as formal volunteering (this
includes the provision of care). We exclude the unpaid work involved in caring for ones close
relatives, but view caring, or providing unpaid help to non-co-resident others, to be a form of
volunteering. This conceptualisation comprises part of the definition of informal volunteering
within the British literature on voluntarism (Rochester et al, pp.19-20; Mohan and Bulloch, 2013).
We refer to the provision of unpaid care as informal caring; whereas when referring to activities
that go beyond care, such as the provision of help to a healthy neighbour, we term this informal
volunteering.


VOLUNTEERING TRAJECTORIES
ACROSS THE LIFE-COURSE

Our aim when analysing the BHPS/US data was to identify general volunteering
trajectories, looking at the way in which people have moved in and out of
volunteering and identifying the demographic characteristics of individuals that have
followed specific trajectories. Using the longitudinal BHPS/US sample of people who
reported volunteering between 1996 and 2011 which includes respondents who
undertook unpaid formal volunteering or informal caring work, we identified two
broad patterns of behaviour.


LONG-TERM VOLUNTEERS
The quantitative picture
Hierarchical clustering identified a group of individuals who had taken part in formal
volunteering and/or informal caring activity several times a year or more, for a large
proportion of the 15 year time frame (1996-2011) (see Figure 2a). These individuals
reported volunteering mean (s.d.) = 5.9(1.6) out of a potential eight time points. The
proportion who can be perceived as long-term volunteers was 29% (n=626) of the
7
BHPS/US longitudinal sample of volunteers; and we describe them as long-term
volunteers. What is noteworthy about these people is that they contributed 54% of
the volunteering activity (defined as the proportion of people who reported
undertaking voluntary activity) across this time frame. This implies that slightly less
than one-third of the longitudinal BHPS/US sample of volunteers contribute over half
of the total amount of voluntary activity reported by survey respondents.
Over time, the proportion of individuals who were long-term volunteers, and the
intensity of their volunteering, varied according to whether they took part in formal
volunteering or informal caring. However, it is difficult to make direct comparisons
between the amounts of formal volunteering and informal caring undertaken because
the measurements used within the BHPS/US to measure caring/informal and formal
volunteering are different.
The proportion of long-term volunteers who take part in informal caring was seen to
be gradually increasing until 2008 in Figure 2(b). These were mainly people who
contributed less than 20 hours a week. An average of 26.6% of long-term informal
carers provided fewer than 20 hours of informal caring a week, and an average of
4.9% long-term volunteers provided over 20 hours of informal caring a week.
There was also a gradual increase in the proportion of people taking part in long-term
formal volunteering which continued until 2006, see Figure 2 (c). However, in 2008
the proportion of people volunteering appeared to decrease slightly, it was 5.9%
lower than the proportion of people in 2006. We observed that within the same year
the proportion of individuals volunteering at least once a week decreased by 7.7% in
comparison to 2006; but the proportion of individuals who formally volunteered at
least once a month increased by 9.6%. This may be explained by 29.6% of the
individuals who formally volunteered at least once a week in 2006 decreasing their
volunteering to at least once a month in 2006. Thus in 2008 both the proportion of
individuals taking part in long-term formal volunteering and the frequency of their
formal volunteering contribution decreased. This is consistent with the findings of
Lim and Laurence (forthcoming) that the number of hours volunteered was in decline
during recessionary periods in the UK from 2008 onwards.
In 2011 the survey continued within the Understanding Society survey (US) with the
same respondents. However, the wording of the question on formal volunteering was
slightly different. Therefore it is not possible to identify whether the decrease in the
amount of formal long-term volunteers, and decrease in the intensity of their
contribution, represents a trend.

About 10% of the long-term volunteers discussed above, undertook a mix of both
formal volunteering and informal caring. This proportion increased from between
8.15% in 1996 to 13.10% in 2002, and then remained consistent until 2008.
8
Figure 2: Sample of long-term volunteers trajectories of volunteering (a),
proportion of the long-term informal carers (b) and long-term formal
volunteers (c)


Our analysis of the demographic characteristics of long-term volunteers shows that
they were more likely to be older, be women, be in part-time or full-time
employment, and more likely to be of a professional or managerial social-class.
The qualitative picture
Analysis of the survey data provides robust information on long-term volunteering
within a representative sample of the British public. Yet, these analyses cannot provide
depth insights into this behaviour, or examine the dynamic relationship between
volunteering and the life-course. However, our sample of MOP writers whose
demographic characteristics broadly reflect those of long-term volunteers within the
BHPS sample, and whom we see as long-term volunteers or stayers, have written
contemporary and retrospective accounts of their volunteering behaviour which can
provide these insights. We identified several types of volunteers based on the shape of
their trajectories through their volunteering life-course
v
.
Stickers
Our sample of MOP writers are all serial-responders to MOP directives and can be
described as long-term volunteers who are stickers, that is, people who have
0
200
400
600
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2011
Not this year Volunteered this year
Long-term volunteering trajectories (a)
0
2
0
4
0
6
0
8
0
1
0
0
I
n
d
i
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i
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s
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2011
Long-term informal volunteers (b)
None Under 20 hrs
Over 20 hrs
0
2
0
4
0
6
0
8
0
1
0
0
I
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1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2011
Long-term formal volunteers (c)
None/little Several times a year
At least once a month At least once a week
9
volunteered continuously for one individual, organisation, or cause; in this case the
MOP. Although they have provided continuous voluntary service to the MOP, some
writers have also volunteered continuously for other organisations, or individuals. For
some, this involved a complex and evolving relationship between the volunteer and
the beneficiary. For example, writer R1025, aged 53 in 1996, continuously
volunteered as a library home-visitor, delivering books to house-bound beneficiaries.
She described an evolving relationship with her clients which grew to include the
provision of informal care. We have identified writers (just over one-fifth of the MOP
sample) whom we perceive to have mostly undertaken continuous volunteering for
other organisations and/or individuals (formal and/or informal caring) as well as the
MOP.
Swappers by personality
We identified individuals that fit Musick and Wilsons (2008) description of career
volunteers, who seem to pursue a career in volunteering, moving from one
volunteer opportunity to another (p.224). Our analyses did not reveal any evidence
of purely short-term hopping from one volunteering opportunity to another, but did
reveal people like B2240, who in 1996 aged 75 and still an active volunteer, stated
that he is by nature a swapper:
As with most of my activities I have moved on after a time. Looking back I can
see that even my working life has been like that. Not that I get bored; it just
seems that something else might be more interesting and I dislike routine.
B2240, who had worked in professional/managerial occupations, was married, had
four children, and several grandchildren, described himself as a life-long volunteer,
who had volunteered as a child in the 1930s, and was still a volunteer when writing as
a 91 year old in 2012. His voluntarism included a mix of one-off acts, such as irregular
street-collections for charities, and long-term acts such as being the treasurer of a
charity assisting a poor, overseas community. He described his routes into different
volunteering activities as the result of being asked by individuals with whom he has
weak social ties (work and church) and strong social ties (extended family members).
Whilst some of his one-off and long-term volunteering activities were of a
consecutive nature, others were undertaken simultaneously. However, all were formal
volunteering activities.
Like B2240, female writer G266, aged 55 when writing in 1996 was a swapper by
personality. She had worked full-time and part-time throughout her life, married three
times, and described regularly changing employment, place of residence and
volunteering activities. Her volunteering began when she started writing for the MOP,
as a mature student of 39. Whilst she continued to write for the MOP, she also
started, stopped, and/or continued, a variety of other types of volunteering, mostly in
formal committee and administration roles. Her routes into and out of her formal
10
volunteering activities were self-selected and linked to other life-course events and
changes. For example, in the mid-1990s she described moving house and
volunteering, with her husband, to work on a local free newspaper for their new place
of residence. She implied that this would assist them in getting to know their new
community. Like B2240, some of her long-term volunteering activities were of a
consecutive nature, and others were undertaken simultaneously.
Ten of our MOP writers (just over a quarter of our sample) who provided continuous
volunteering to the MOP were by nature people who wanted, or needed, to vary and
swap their volunteering activities throughout their volunteering life-course. Some also
undertook informal volunteering activities, and thus contributed a mix of informal and
formal engagement.
Evolving swappers
In contrast to the personality swapper, we also identified the evolving swapper within
our MOP writer sample. These were individuals whose routes into volunteering were
determined by life-course events, and whose volunteering evolved alongside their
lives. For example, several writers who are mothers described beginning their
volunteering when they identified a need for help at their childrens pre-school. They
moved onto involvement in their childrens primary school, and then their childrens
secondary school. Unlike the swappers by personality, their behaviour is fairly
consistent. They do not seem to undertake direct swaps in their volunteering
behaviour, but gradually drop some activities and pick other activities up, over time.
Eleven of our MOP writers (just over a quarter of our sample) were perceived to be
evolving swappers; some also contributed informal voluntary acts alongside their
formal volunteering.
Stop-starters
We identified seven writers whose other volunteering activities did not meet our
definition of long-term volunteering, beyond their contribution to the MOP. Without
their involvement in the MOP, we might have classified them as short-term formal or
informal volunteers who match MacDuffs (2005) description of temporary episodic
volunteering, or interim volunteers (pp.50-51). Trying to categorise these writers is
quite complicated; each had unique routes into their short-term voluntary
engagement.
Female writer W729 began writing for the MOP in 1983, aged 26, shortly after
leaving her job as a qualified primary-school teacher due to stress-related depression.
She described the process of writing for MOP almost in therapeutic terms:

11
This whole scheme which I am writing for, for the first time has helped me
enormously to formulate my thoughts , organize myself, to see if I can write
logically and still be interesting as well. This was my first real test and I
am so pleased to have been chosen to write for the scheme
Some of W729s later routes into formal volunteering also appear to have been
related to her mental health needs, and her volunteering was of an interim nature.
Between 1987 and 1993 she taught basic skills to adults for 6 months, and for a year
volunteered for a half-day a week for the occupational therapy unit of a psychiatric
hospital. After securing a job in 1996, she did not volunteer again until her early
retirement in 2010 (aged 53), where she undertook a trial afternoon working for a
hospital charity. Although it is possible that she undertook informal volunteering
activities, W729 does not mention these. In her early accounts, when still experiencing
depression, she writes about finding her relationship with her neighbours oppressive,
and being unwilling to undertake informal activities with or for them.
B1180 is a female writer who began writing for the MOP in 1984 when aged 46. She
describes herself as someone who does not volunteer because neither her husband
nor her children believe in, or like, the concept of volunteering. Yet, when describing
her life-course activities, she appears to have engaged in several one-off acts of formal
volunteering; and both she and her partner seem to be very actively engaged in their
community, providing different types of informal support for friends and neighbours.
As B1180 describes these as a series of one-off activities, we have placed her in the
stop-start category; however, our gut feeling is that B1180s informal engagement
is actually long-term and continuous.
Another writer whom we would describe as a stop-starter is M3055, a hedge-fund
manager aged 34 in 2008, who left her job to get married, and volunteered for a
charity whilst living briefly in Africa with her husband in order to do something. By
2012 she had 2 year old child and was living in England. Categorising this writer is
difficult, she may be at the beginning of her volunteering life-course, and may go onto
do other formal voluntary work later in life as a parent. However, at the cross-
sectional moment in time when our study finishes 2012 - the shape of her
volunteering behaviour/trajectory makes her appear a stop-starter.
C41 joined the MOP in 1981, aged 22, having undertaken 3 different formal
volunteering activities for several months at a time between leaving school and
starting college. She then dropped out of college, married, and went to leave in
Shetland, where she home-schooled her three children, then divorced her husband in
the early 2000s. Although C41 is seen as a serial-responder, in that she has been a
member of MOP since 1981, her response rate has been patchy, and her engagement
in the MOP could also be described as of a stop-start nature.
Non-volunteers
12
The MOP sample has two non-volunteers who appear not to have done any other
volunteering beyond their continuous writing for the MOP.

MOP writers as long-term volunteers
Although we have described MOP writers as long-term volunteers, not all of the
MOP writers would agree with this definition. Some did not see their writing as a
voluntary act but as something they enjoyed doing that might also be of benefit to
others. We wonder how our writers would describe themselves if answering the
BHPS/US. Given the lack of prompts within the survey, we think some might omit to
consider their MOP writing as a long-term voluntary commitment (whereas they
might do so if they were answering the cross-sectional Citizenship Survey which has
many prompts). Looking back at our categories, our view is that writers we have
described as stickers and swappers, which make up over three-quarters of the MOP
sample, would identify themselves as volunteers within the BHPS/US because of their
other informal and formal long voluntary commitments. However, the seven stoppers
and starters would be described within the BHPS/US as short-term volunteers (whilst
the two non-volunteers might not be included within the BHPS/US longitudinal
volunteering sample).
Below, we describe the volunteering trajectories of those in the BHPS whose
volunteering would be considered to be short-term, whose behaviour bears some
similarities to our MOP stoppers and starters.

SHORT-TERM VOLUNTEERS
These are participants in the BHPS/US who reported volunteering once or twice
between 1996 and 2011. The mean (s.d.) number of times that an individual reported
volunteering was 2(1.2) out of a potential 8 time points, see Figure 3 (a). The
proportion of all the BHPS/US respondents who can be perceived as short-term
volunteers between 1996 and 2011 is 71% (n=1525). Over this timeframe these
short-term volunteers contributed less than half of the volunteering activity (46%)
undertaken by BHPS/US participants.
Figure 3 (b) illustrates the change in proportion and intensity of short-term informal
caring over time. In contrast to long-term volunteers, the proportion of people who
participated in informal caring was reasonably consistent between 1996 and 2011.
On average 15.4% of short-term informal carers provided less than 20 hours a week
of volunteering. This is a smaller proportion (by, on average, 11.2%) than long-term
informal carers. The proportion of short-term informal carers contributing over 20
13
hours a week (on average 5%) was similar to the proportion of individuals within the
long-term informal carers.
Figure 3 (c) shows the proportion of short-term volunteers that took part in formal
volunteering between 1996 and 2011. The proportion of formal volunteers and the
frequency of their volunteering, see Figure 3(b), gradually decreased between 1996
and 2006. This is in direct contrast to the activities of long-term formal volunteers
which increased in the same time-frame. However, in 2008 there was a sharp increase
in the proportion of people who reported short-term volunteering. This was
accompanied by a change in the frequency of their volunteering. Figure 3 (c) shows
that the 2008 spike in volunteering comprised an increase in people undertaking
formal volunteering several times a year or at least once a month relative to
previous years. This increase is also reflected within the Citizenship Survey data for the
same year.
It is tempting to relate the 2008 increase in frequencies of formal volunteering to
MacDuff (2005) and Low et al s claims that there has been an increase in the number
of people who are episodic or irregular volunteers. Given that the increase in short-
term volunteering is limited to 2008, it is not possible to corroborate this as a trend.
As yet we are unable to provide an explanation for this increase. Preliminary analysis
has focused on whether it is connected to the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent
recessions that have taken place in the UK.
In comparison to the long-term volunteers a much lower proportion of short-term
volunteers undertook a mix of both formal volunteering and informal caring (on
average, 1.4%). This proportion was reasonably consistent over time.
Figure 3: Sample of short-term volunteers trajectories of volunteering (a),
proportion of short-term informal carers (b) and formal volunteers (c)

0
500
1000
1500
1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2011
not this year Volunteer
Short-term volunteering trajectories (a)
0
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1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2011
Short-term informal volunteers (b)
None Under 20 hrs
Over 20 hrs
14



Short-term volunteers have strong similarities with the general British population, and
do not resemble the long-term volunteers who are more likely to be women and to
be older.

CONCLUSION

Analysis of the BHPS/US between 1996 and 2011 found that one third of the BHPS/US
volunteering sample were long-term volunteers who contributed 54% of all the volunteering
participation being undertaken within this timeframe by this sample. There was a gradual
increase in long-term formal volunteering until 2006, but in 2008 both the proportion of
individuals taking part in long-term formal volunteering and the frequency of their formal
volunteering contribution decreased. The picture of long-term informal caring is different. The
proportion of long-term volunteers who took part in informal caring for less than 20 hours a
week gradually increased until 2008, when it began to gradually decrease again. However the
proportion of long-term informal carers whose contribution was greater than 20 hours a week
was fairly consistent across time. On average, about 10% of these long-term volunteers
undertook a mix of both formal volunteering and informal caring.

71% of the BHPS volunteers were short-term volunteers who contributed 46% of all the
volunteering participation undertaken by the BHPS sample within this timeframe. The
proportion of short-term formal volunteers and the frequency of their volunteering gradually
decreased between 1996 and 2006, possibly contradicting the claims of MacDuff (2005) that
there was a rising trend in episodic volunteering in the early 2000s (within the UK). However,
in 2008 there was a sharp increase in the number of people undertaking formal volunteering
several times a year or at least once a month relative to previous years. It is as yet uncertain
whether this increase has been sustained since 2008, and whether it was related to the 2008
economic crisis.

Analysis of the writing of our MOP participants found that by virtue of the fact they were
serially-responding volunteer writers, we might consider MOP participants to be long-term
volunteers. However, not all writers agreed that their writing counted as volunteering. We are
aware that if these same writers had been BHPS/US participants they may not have reported
volunteering. Looking at other ways in which these writers have participated in voluntary
0
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1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2011
Short-term formal volunteers (c)
None/little Several times a year
At least once a month At least once a week
15
activities across their life-course, aside from their writing, we identified additional trajectories
to their volunteering. However, we also noted that categorisation is not always that enlightening
given there is sometimes a discrepancy between the researchers and the individuals
perception of their volunteering. Additionally, until we can describe the whole of a persons
volunteering life-course, any categories imposed might be inaccurate.

Whilst MOP writers discussed their motivations to volunteer, they had a greater focus on their
routes into and out of volunteering at key stages in their life-course. There is considerable
variety; and the exit points for some writers are other writers entry points. We also found that
some MOP writers stopped volunteering at a certain point in their lives, for example, retirement,
only to take up volunteering again later. The MOP has enabled us to look at volunteering from a
life-course perspective, and to note that short or long-term volunteering behaviours are not
definitive in any individual. There is always a possibility that behaviour may evolve, change or
continue. This has prompted us to ask whether can really describe anyone as an ex-volunteer, or
a non-volunteer (unless they are deceased).
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Geyne-Rajme, F. and Smith, P.W.F. (2011) Modelling Volunteering Types in the UK,
Southampton: TSRC Seminar and unpublished paper.
Home Office (2005) Volunteering compact Code of Good Practice. London: Home
Office
Hustinx, L. (2001) Individualisation and new styles of youth volunteering: an empirical
exploration in VAJ (3) 2. London: Institute for Volunteering Research.
Hustinx, L. and Lammertyn, F. (2003) Collective and Reflexive Styles of Volunteering:
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Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 14 (2) pp.167-187.
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i
This was a paper presented at the Montreal 2002 ARNOVA conference. Weber found that in 2001 31%
of US volunteers could be described as short-term/one-off volunteers.
ii
Funded by the ESRCs Secondary Data Analysis Initiative: ES/K003550/1.
iii
The two surveys constitute one longitudinal panel survey.
iv
In 2002 the BHPS changed its question on unpaid voluntary work. Respondents could not respond
never/almost never volunteering to this question. A larger proportion of individuals reported volunteering
once a year or less. This error would have had a large adverse effect on the continuity of the longitudinal
BHPS/US sample. Therefore, we grouped together participants who reported never/almost never volunteering
with those reporting that they volunteered once a year or less in each given year.
v
We observed gaps/absences in individual accounts, and suspect that some writers may have under-
reported some types of volunteering (for example, some writers did not describe any caring/informal
volunteering acts).






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